The Open Source MySQL database, which is now maintained by Sun Microsystems after Sun's acquisition, benefits from a performance boost and easier management following the update to version 5.1.

Mårten Mickos, who is responsible for Sun's database division, recently announced the imminent release at the MySQL conference in Santa Clara. Thus far, only a release candidate has been available for downloading although the release is scheduled for Q2.

The new functions announced by Sun include table and index partitioning. Partitioning will reduce database response times by splitting up the index and focusing searches on relevant areas.

A new event scheduler is available for frequently re-occurring tasks. Commercial customers who opt for the MySQL Enterprise edition can look forward to a policy-based wizard in the MySQL Enterprise Monitor to point out possible issues with existing implementations.

Three editions are available: the free MySQL Community Server, the MySQL Enterprise Server with commercial subscription and support, and the MySQL Embedded Server which is available as a commercially licensed version for integration with third-party products.

To counter the back-and-forth about the future of the free MySQL database after Oracle's takeover of Sun Microsystems, developers have put effort into releasing another test version, called a second milestone, of the product.